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John,
I wanted to make sure you saw Sean’s note from yesterday – and there’s one more headline I want you to see:
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It’s a sad fact that when some voters learn that a candidate is LGBTQ, it will stop them from supporting their campaign. No matter their policies or their plans or how hard they’ve worked to get this far. According to Massachusetts state Senator Julian Cyr: "I can tell you it has a chilling effect because I know people who have thought twice about running for public office because they're LGBTQ. They are concerned about how their personal lives will be distorted and used against them.”
We’re hopeful that one day, these bigoted tropes will fade from political discourse and LGBTQ people can run without having to face greater scrutiny because of who they are. But until that day comes, we’ll keep fighting.
If you’re able and willing to support our work with a donation, we appreciate it.
Enjoy your weekend,
Elliot Imse
Senior Director of Communications, LGBTQ Victory Fund
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From: Sean Meloy
Sent: Friday, August 21, 2020
To: [email protected]
Subject: Update: Alex Morse’s campaign
Hey John,
Two weeks ago, a series of well-orchestrated homophobic attacks were launched against our Congressional candidate Alex Morse, making national news. Many of the stories predicted the attack would destroy his promising campaign – even that him dropping out was inevitable.
But that didn’t happen. And a poll released earlier this week shows him surging and within just a few points of his powerful opponent with less than two weeks till the primary.
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Below is the story of why Alex is still in this race. But a spoiler alert: it was in large part because of Victory Fund’s efforts to help him navigate the homophobic attacks and demand accountability. If you want us to be able to defend more LGBTQ candidates like Alex, please support us with a contribution.
We knew a political hit job against Alex had been in the works for at least a month. Then, a local Massachusetts College Democrats chapter released a letter with anonymous and vague allegations claiming Alex had made a few students “uncomfortable” when he matched on dating apps, spoke to them on social media, or had relationships with them. The letter was published in a student newspaper just as ballots hit voters’ mailboxes.
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While we believe any allegations of sexual harassment or abuse of power be taken seriously and investigated, our sources told us the allegations were untrue and the College Democrats’ letter was politically motivated. Which, it turns out, it was.
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Our team went into overdrive – encouraging Alex to fight the attacks and stay in the race, supporting his campaign as it navigated tricky political waters, and building a media response. We stood by Alex when others were wavering because we know LGBTQ candidates are too often the target of these types of attacks. Our opponents appeal to homophobia by sexualizing our lives and holding LGBTQ candidates to a standard no heterosexual cisgender candidate would face.
We were the first to put out a statement exposing this as a hit job “timed with the political calendar” – demanding the media investigate the allegations and accurately report on the story. We called out media outlets and political opponents who rolled out tired homophobic tropes about gay men as pedophiles, despite the allegations making no mention of people underage. We spoke with our allies to explain that these attacks were homophobic and that it was critical to stand by Alex and not let the politics of destruction win.
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Day and night. Throughout the weekends. Our team was relentless.
Why? Yes, we wanted to help Alex. But as important, we could not allow an LGBTQ candidate’s campaign to sink simply because he is sexually active and uses dating apps. If the attacks were successful, it would set a precedent, letting our opponents know all they need to destroy our campaigns is mention our sex lives.
And we cannot – we will not – allow that to happen. Victory Fund is the only national organization dedicated to electing LGBTQ people. Our allied political organizations – many of whom stood with Alex at our urging and because of our work to expose the false allegations – look to us to lead when homophobia infuses political attacks and so much is on the line. We will fight when we need to – and we will win. That is the power of Victory Fund.
Thankfully, the media has done a true 180 in its reporting. It has exposed the allegations as a complete hoax and politically motivated. Text messages show the chief strategist of the College Democrats chapter said he made up the allegations and wrote the letter because he thought it would help him get a job in the office of Alex’s opponent. Resignations are said to be coming from leadership of the College Democrats and the Massachusetts Democratic Party for their involvement in the scandal.
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Paid for by LGBTQ Victory Fund. Your contribution may be used in connection with federal, state and local elections and be subject to federal, state and local laws. Contributions to LGBTQ Victory Fund are not tax deductible. Victory Fund members do not have governance participation rights.
LGBTQ Victory Fund has helped thousands of openly LGBTQ candidates win elections up and down the ballot, from sea to shining sea since our founding in 1991. We believe representation is power so we elected U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin and Kyrsten Sinema, Governors Jared Polis and Kate Brown, all seven LGBTQ members of U.S. Congress and countless candidates for state and local government, including Virginia Delegate Danica Roem, Colorado state Representative Leslie Herod and Pennsylvania Assemblymember Brian Sims. And with an unprecedented number of LGBTQ people running for office in this year, we’ll need your support to make 2020 the next Rainbow Wave.
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